Dietz wants to increase use of volunteers

Elk River Mayor John Dietz would like to increase the use of volunteers in the city.
At the March 14 city council work session, he passed out a Star Tribune story about the city of Wayzata, which is using volunteers to answer phones, help out with parks and recreation and do other tasks.
“I’m not averse to stealing a good idea from another city,” Dietz said.
To begin the process, he’d like to recruit a volunteer coordinator (who would be a volunteer) for the city.
City Administrator Lori Johnson said the city uses some volunteers now, including Retired Senior Volunteer Program people at the activity center and recreation programs and Sentence to Serve for other work.
“Certainly there are more areas in which we could have volunteers,” Johnson said.
Dietz said he’d like to see departments come up with a list of things a volunteer could do for the city.
“I think it would be worth pursuing,” Dietz said.